wildorchidflowers
The world ended quietly for Cassidy June.
Long before the dead began walking, Cassie learned how to survive by staying small, counting footsteps through thin walls, checking locks before bed, memorizing the sounds of anger before it reached her bedroom door. Fear was something she understood long before the world fell apart.
Now eight years old and alone in the ruins of Georgia, Cassie survives through routines. Count the supplies. Watch the trees. Check the doors twice. Never stop paying attention. Because the moment she does, something bad happens.
Then there's Daryl Dixon.
Quiet where others are loud, watchful where others overlook her, Daryl becomes a strange sort of safety in a world that has none left. He doesn't ask questions Cassie can't answer. He doesn't tell her to stop worrying. And somehow, without either of them meaning to, the lonely man with the crossbow becomes the first person who ever feels steady.
But survival is one thing. Learning how to belong to someone is another.
As the dead continue to roam the woods and the world grows crueler by the day, Cassie finds herself caught between the comfort of routine and the terrifying reality of caring about people she could lose. And for Daryl, a man used to leaving before anyone can leave him first, protecting Cassie begins to feel dangerously close to having something worth staying for.
Among the Ruins is a haunting story of survival, grief, and the fragile connection between two people learning how to live in a world that destroys everything soft.